Automail PUNK
by Eve Nightingale
Summary: One evening Edward gets mugged and his journal is stolen. What are the intentions of the thief even after she learns human transmutation isn't possible? How close will she have to get before she gets her answers?
1. Ch1: Introduction and Parting

Let's see how many people are going to go for this.  
>This is the first time I've put in an OC so early, be nice.<p>

I'm trying to do something different with my writing, let's see how it turns out.

No flames.  
>No trolls.<br>No joke. :)

Thx.

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><p><strong><em>Introduction and Parting<em>**

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><p>In the quiet streets of Central, within the early evening hours, a girl crouched near a small bush. Her orange eyes were cautious to all around her. She had made the long trek across the country for this moment; it was almost time to go. The girl was poised as she perched behind a shrubbery, ready to strike as soon as the famous Edward Elric passed by. She had prepared well for this day with countless hours of training and planning. Many more hours were dedicated to save the money for this endeavor, but she was finally ready to make the move. With her talents in mechanics and alchemy, surely she was enough to take on the 'pipsqueak'; thus qualifying her for the position.<p>

When she saw Edward come into view, she readied her switch blade, a tool that never left her side since purchase. She had a switchblade in hand, one in her boot and another on that was hid up her sleeve. If he managed to disarm her once, he'd have to do it two additional times. "Like hell," she said and carefully eyed her target. As skilled as he was, there was no way he'd be able to predict all three attacks.

This girl wasn't planning on killing him, rather subduing him. She wanted the journal the Full Metal Alchemist carried around. If she could master his notes, she would be able to forgo the age restrictions on the military as he did. State alchemist certification: It was her main goal. That silver pocket watch would soon adorn her hip.

After suffering the loss of her parents, she wanted to get them back. Edward was the closest person to come to a human transmutation that she knew of. She wanted to know what he had recorded on the subject so she could compare them to her own notes. This girl had come alone with the conclusion of human transmutation, but lacked the final keys needed to finish the array. Hoping that Ed would be able to fill in the gaps, she aimed to steal his notebook.

She saw Edward come around the corner on the street his hotel was on. "Now," she said quietly to herself.

The girl traced her steps back to try and remember why she was lying flat on her back, watching a red coat walk away: She had lunged at him. Her arm caught. Her whole body went waitless for a half second as she was flipped over his shoulder. The next thing she noticed was a lack of space within her body, indicated by a lack of oxygen reaching her brain. It seemed the attack had landed her flat on the pavement with no more knife and the wind knocked out of her. "Give it back!" she yelled, rather choked out, while trying to convince her lungs it was time to inflate again.

"Why?" the young alchemist said, "Planning on taking a chunk out of me?" He held the knife by its tip, pointing it straight up. He kept walking, he did not stop.

"I'd only need a vegetable peeler to take a chunk out of a bean!," she said with a gruff voice. Quickly getting up she blocked the attack he charged at her with. This time she had a better chance, she wasn't glaring through a bush. Ed's temper was also flaring, so he was being careless. She dodged his fist from the left. Then by means of a back flip, he dodged her leg sweep. "Ha!" she said triumphantly. The girl slipped out her second hidden knife from her sleeve and moved forward quickly.

"Another knife?" he said with bemusment. He flawlessly intercepted the hand and twisted her hand till it was at her back.

"Big mistake," she said and dropped to her knees. Her boot knife flicked out from the toe and she kicked at Edward's automail ankle. She punctured his boot and severed a cord within the mechanics, robbing Edward of his balance. With a nearly invisible motion of her hand, she lifted the black book from Ed's back pocket.

"Hey," he checked, "Give that back," he snapped as he attempted to turn around and grab her. His ankle no longer had any mobility and he collapsed onto the bush.

"I don't think so!" she taunted and threw a hook over the top of a nearby, two story building. It was on a cord, attached to a motor, strapped to her waist. After the anchor was soundly in place, she hit a button. The cord carried her to the top of the building and away into the night.

"Dammit," he swore. He shrugged it off, seemingly calm about the whole situation. He limped his way to a pay phone and dialed his younger brother. Al was waiting in the hotel room they had while in Central when the phone went off. Ed informed his brother on the events that transpired.

"Who was it?" Alphonse sounded concerned.

"No clue," Ed glanced down the road. It was empty, no witnesses.

"Do you want me to go after him?" he asked.

"Nah, he won't be able to read the thing anyway. Just call the police, they'll find her," he said and said goodbye. The police would be informed and the thief apprehended soon. Their dogs would have her sniffed out in no time.

His limp made Winry come to mind, "Ah," he groaned "Winry's going to lose it at me." His leg's structure wasn't damaged, but she would have to make a trip to replace the cord. She had made it very clear she was busy, but he couldn't make the trip without finding his book first.

Meanwhile, said 'thief' was scaling an abandoned building to reach an open window. She had lived there for the past few months to plan for this very day. Normally Edward Elric would always be on the road going 'wherever'; she could never catch up to him. Each time she would hear anything on where he was going, he'd be in the neighbouring town already. "Not this time," she said and curled up on a large couch cushion on the floor.

At the same time each year he came back to Central to turn in his annual research. This time, she got him. "You're all mine." Two years in the working finally paid off and she flipped open the cover to all her answers.

"Let's see what we have here…" she asked herself as she slipped her hood off to reveal shoulder length blond hair. The brown, short-cut wig hid her natural color. She hoped the darkness covered her eye color enough. Hair color was one thing, but eye color was hard to fake. If he'd seen her eye color it was all over, no one she knew had orange eyes, it was a dead give away.

She coughed. Reaching down to her side, she emerged with a thermos. Taking a drink she heaved a sigh, "Still warm." The cold served as a great disguise for her voice, annoying as it was.

Wasting no more time, she began to copy down the book word for word. She would study and learn the notes, then appear at a later date pumped full of the knowledge she 'borrowed'. The plan to return it was to be set in motion as soon as she was feeling well again. Even if she was a thief, she still had a heart. This was several years worth of notes that were irreplaceable; she didn't feel right not giving it back.

After hours of scouring the text, she came to some frightening conclusions. If she decoded it properly, she discovered that a 'soul' not be brought back. "…I thought that would be it." She applied her own knowledge to what she read. "A soul is 'you'. What makes you 'you'? Your memories. The 'law of the conservation of mass': matter cannot be created or destroyed, only changed…that means…the electrical impulses that make our memories, the things that make us who we are, are impossible to recreate…totally impossible…" She held the book low and her eyes to her knees. "…I'm alone then…" She had been alone for months in the dingy warehouse, but now that she knew 'that was how it was going to stay', it made things feel worse.

Tears welled up in her eyes and made a single trail down each side of her face. "…a key ingredient for making a successful human transmutation is a philosopher's stone…which the key ingredient is human lives…looks like memories are an important thing." She laid the book down in front of her and scruffed her short blond hair with her fingers, balling them tightly into a fist, she thought. "…what am I going to do?" Her inpatient's had paid off for once. She flipped to the back of the book to see what was recently written in there. And there it was; a bit on Dr. Marco's notes and what the stones were made of. To go through the whole book, only to find that at the end would have been far more devastating.

In her time preparing, she learned how to decode many complex notes, and Edward used the same one as a friend of hers back home. "Glad I didn't waste my time on this," she said and tossed the book inside her bag. She gave the idea of collaboration with Edward a thought, but discarded it when nothing popped to mind. "Screw it..." she said and laid down. The sooner she nursed herself to health, the sooner she could drop off the journal to Central Library.

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><p>I don't want to say too much, I want the reviews to speak for themselves.<p> 


	2. Ch 2: Moving Ahead

Finally got around to posting this. DX College has got me writing out the wa'zoo! I'm swamped. I'll try to work on this one as quickly as I can, but there's more of a demand for 'Deep Roots', so I'm going to be working on that one for the next little bit.

Hope you like chapter 2! :D

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><p><strong><em>Moving Ahead<em>**

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><p>The Central library was busy that day. People coming and going each second to or from the building. She had it under her arm within a small purse, Ed's journal. With a sigh, the girl headed up the steps to apply for a library card. Her knowledge on where Edward was going to be that day could have been classified as stalking. The place she had been sleeping, an abandoned warehouse, was riddled with passage ways and broken windows. There was a great view of the city from the dump she called home, for now.<p>

When she came to Central the quest for the perfect building began. A series of lucky events led her to the one she currently occupied. Windows on all sides, boarded up of course, and tall. Tall enough to see over many of the surrounding buildings. Central was not one of them.

"Excuse me," she said, throat void of any infection. Her earlier cold took a week to heal and she still had a dry cough; something that nearly blew her cover a few times.

"Yes, dear?" the lady on the other side counter addressed her casually.

"I'd like to get a library card." She reached into her purse and emerged with her own pen.

The woman reached under the counter and took out some papers, "Certainly. I'll just need to get a piece of identification."

This caught her off guard, "I-uh..." she blushed, "-I actually had my possessions stolen." The girl held the purse she had up, it looked old, "This was from goodwill. I got it last week."

The large librarian sighed in sympathy and held a hand over her heart, "They'll take anything not nailed down, won't they?" she tapped the counter, "I'll go talk to my supervisor, you can take a look around."

The blond girl smiled, and said, "You're such a sweetheart, thank you." They parted. The scene needed to be put to gather quickly, she got to work. Edward would be here around two o'clock to paw through some books, and he would be entering from the side. She knew this was the day he had a meeting at a branch of Central headquarters. The office in question was in back of the library and down a block; the side entrance was closest. She speculated that Edward was meeting with Colonel Roy Mustang. Her focus wasn't on Roy, but knowing where Mustang was helped her find Edward, she kept an eye on him for a while too.

What she learned about Roy was that he had his own house in town and frequented the bars. She broke into his home on a night he was out partying. She was careful to put everything back in place, for she was also familiar with the colonel's obsessive personality. The goal was to see if he had any information on Ed's past. She found nothing. She did however find it rather peculiar that there was nothing about his meetings with Edward. They met on a weekly basis, but no minutes from their meetings. It did mentioned that the Full Metal Alchemist fell under Roy's command, so that was good enough for her, Part of his 'crew', as it was written in his notes.

She laid the journal on the floor, beneath a bench. It stood upright against the leg. On it's binding, a small piece of tape holding a thread that extended across the middle hallway and to the girl's wrist watch. She knew Edward was a creature of habit, and it was only a matter of time before he reached the 'alchemy reference section'. When he sat down to peruse the shelf, a button would ravel the thread up and tug the book, knocking it over and grabbing his attention. This was phase one. If it failed, she would grab the book and attempt to check it out at the same time Edward was leaving. She was set, everything was perfect. '_I am awesome,_' she thought to herself, disregarding the fact that it was sheer luck that puttered her this far along.

Looking at the bookshelf in front of her, she decided to pull out an old favourite. It was an introduction book, but it was by her favourite author. It had been years since she had seen it and it gave her a warm feeling of nostalgia. She felt that 'sitting down and seeing _that_ book first' had some kind of meaning, like 'you're in the right place'. For quite a time she had nearly given up on her endeavors, second guessing herself and getting cold feet. Seeing that comforting text brought some peace to mind.

Low and behold, Edward showed up as if on cue. 'G_lad I rehearsed this,_'she thought, as her heart pounded, skipping beats as it did. It was the moment of truth. Would he recognize her eyes? Her voice? Body shape? The attire she wore the night the book was stolen hid her curvy frame, and the boots she wore were three sizes too big for her (in case she'd be followed on foot).

The woman at the front desk approached the aisle and spoke, "Miss? I checked into it."

She hit the button and the device worked as predicted. The thread coiled into her wrist watch using a wind up mechanism; that was practically silent. "Oh, thanks." She took the clip board from the lady.

"Fill this out, signature here, and bring it to the front desk before you leave." She smiled and left.

While she was receiving the clip board, she heard the younger Elric exclaim about the journal. She looked down the aisle to see what they were celebrating (as if she didn't already know). "Found what you're looking for," she said, making it look like an attempt at breaking the ice.

Ed flipped through the book, keeping an eye out for missing pages, "Not really. My journal was stolen a few days ago and it just turned up under the bench."

"Maybe he was planning on coming back for it?" Al suggested.

"Stolen?" she sounded surprised. The girl referenced the bag on her arm, "I had my other purse stolen too. This city is bad for crime; my stuff was lifted right off my table as I ate. I didn't even notice. It kind of makes me regret moving."

He shut the book, "Is that so? Where are you from?" He sympathized with the girl, he knew how tough money got when you were on the road. Though Ed could always rely on the military to supplement him, there was no way calling them where the was no phone lines.

The girl proceeded to tell where she was from. A little 'nowhere town' in the middle of nowhere. It was on the way to nowhere, after you leave the edge of nowhere. "I lived there since I was born, I wanted to go to school and I had no options, so I came here. By the way, I'm Eve Nightingale, nice to meet you."

"I'm Edward Elric and this is my little brother Alphonse," he drew attention to the large suit of armor.

"Nice to meet you," he said.

Her eyes widened. She had been following them, but she never really heard their voices before. He had such a sweet voice for such a massive man. He didn't sound any older than thirteen or fourteen. "I thought you two looked familiar. You were featured in a article last month."

Edward's head became enlarged, "Yeah. We're pretty famous in the area. Too bad it doesn't help out more on the road."

"Really? Even from where I'm at I've heard of you. People can be such shut in's." She reached into her bag, "I got a news paper from back home. If you mail out an envelope to the post office in another town, they'll send you a set of news papers from that area. I always kept up on Central's news; it's our capital, right? So it helps to know what's going on."

"I never knew that," Alphonse emerged from a book that was threatening to steal his attention away. "We'll have to tell granny about that, I bet she'll be interested."

"Yeah, and every time we end up in the paper, Winry calls and demands to know the status of my automail." He held his right hand up to Al, "There are nearly three-hundred screws in this arm. She's going to want to see if they're all there."

"Automail?" Eve said in surprise (this time for real), "You have an automail arm?"

He nodded, "I guess it's a trait that doesn't make it to the press. You said you travel?" Ed finally closed up his book when he was satisfied all was well and nothing was dog eared.

Eve shook her head, "Not usually. On my way here, I had to ride cheap. I'd end up in one town and have to work for a while to earn some money before I could go again. It's been a couple years in the making, but I'm finally here."

"What do plan on doing next?" Al asked, keeping the conversation going. Alphonse had a feeling they would be taking this girl out to eat. Along the road, they frequently met travelers who had been hungry for days, surviving on the bare minimums. This girl seemed to fall under that classification.

"I'm going to work for now. I need to find a job and save so I can take my state alchemy test next year." She reached into her bag and emerged with a central paper from a couple years ago. "I saw you in the paper a long time ago and it kind of inspired me to pursue alchemy more. My dad wanted me to do it, mom wanted me to fix cars, so, I had to leave. I was tired of the bickering."

"Did they consider what 'you' wanted to do?" Ed asked, rather annoyed. He hated it when people were pushy like that.

Eve shook her head, "That's just it, what 'I' wanted to do wasn't on the table because I wasn't sure yet. Traveling and working different jobs sounded like it would give me time to decide and gain experience all at once."

"You seem so young, did you travel alone?" Ed looked at her face, her expression looked scared.

"Well, yes-I, uh. I did. And...it was hard at times. But luckily I was able to make good connections and travel safely. That's actually one of the reasons it took so long. I had to make sure I could trust the people I traveled with. I mostly stuck with farmers and sales men." She blushed, "I don't mean I..." she composed herself, "I was a hard worker and all I required was a seat and a meal. I would work for them and only ask to travel with them in return."

Alphonse was surprised, "You may be young, but you're really smart."

She blushed again, "I don't take compliments well," Eve said and laughed at herself, "Thank you. I'm just resourceful. I walked in the library thinking that you may have been looking at the same books. Then I actually run into you. It makes me feel like I made the right choice to come here."

Ed seemed intrigued, "It seems like the state alchemy exam is going to be in your near future; what are your skills like?"

Eve glanced along the wall of books, an aisle away from her original shelf, "I think I saw the one..." she skimmed the beginning of the shelf on the hip-level books, "...Right here," she said, pulling out a popular reference novel. "I left off on the last on shortly before I made it to Central, and I need to check this one out." It was the next issue in the seven part series. "Number five: Kinetic Alchemy."

"Oh," Edward said with surprised, "Alchemy powered machinery, impressive."

"With the oil situation becoming more of a problem, I wanted to look into ways of making Alchemy more accessible for motor companies. The things they have now aren't really practical. I want to try and make them smaller and more affordable to the public."

Ed nodded, "The military would definitely be interested in that kind of skill. Making the defense cheaper to maintain would take a chunk out of their annual budget."

"Exactly," she beamed.

"I think the exam is being held next year. Have you gotten your name on the list?" Al questioned.

Her expression calmed, "Come again?"

He nodded, "There's a waiting list. What if there's no spot available for you?"

She panicked, "I'll have to wait, like, five more years?" Her arms folded across her chest, "Well I'm glad I found out now. I can't imagine how it would have felt to be turned away at the door."

Edward rubbed the back of his neck, "I think I might be able to do something for you."

This wasn't part of her plan. She was going to grind her alchemy skills and then participate in the exam next year. If the waiting list was going to be an issue, she would have to seek employment until the allotted time. But a possibility presented itself, "Really? I don't want to impose."

He shook his head, "Don't worry about it. I'll let them know what it took to get you here. If you're skilled enough, they might make an exception."

"No wonder they call you a 'hero of the people', you're just amazing." Eve was gushing by this point. Even though she needed to exercise underhanded tactics to gain the knowledge to pass the state alchemy exam, she truly did admire Edward. The story she told him about the news paper was true, he really did inspire her to do great things. She was running out of time though, and needed to further her own ends with his notes.

Ed took in all the praise, "Occasionally. Doing the things you 'enjoy' for a living is the only way to live. I've had hard times myself, and if it weren't for the people willing to help along the way, I don't know where we'd be."

"I don't even want to imagine," Al shook his head, "We've just made so much progress, it's hard to picture it."

Ed laughed, "Now that you mention it, you're right." He turned his attention back to Eve, "How mcuh longer do you plan to be here?"

She shrugged, "I don't have to be anywhere else."

"When we're done, do you want to go someplace to eat? We haven't eaten since breakfast," he offered.

Her orange eyes lit up, "That would be great. Could we discuss alchemy over this meal?" she playfully inquired.

"Why not," he said with a smile.

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><p>You may be wondering why the character has the same name as myself. There is a reason. Eve Nightingale was originally a fan character for Beyblade. She was an Irish mechanic and blah blah blah, made her back in high school and what not.<p>

I spent a lot of time developing Eve's back story and didn't want to throw the character to the wind. I was going through an old file folder that had been laying around the house, and I found some old pictures from back as early as 2003. I drew Eve more than I wrote about her. Her stories existed in role play format in school scribblers. I also used her back story as a creative writing project for English 12. She had a great story on her own, even without the Beyblade universe. I really liked the name I came up with and since I never wrote and/or posted anything with Eve in it, I began to use it as my pen name.

With my love for FMA, and my desire to finally use Eve, I tweaked her character to fit in this universe. She is reborn in this story and I hope you'll get to enjoy her.

In my defense, I did try to change the character's name. But nothing else felt right. :S I tried Ella, Ellen, Esther and a few others but nothing rolled as nicely as 'Eve Nightingale'. The name isn't important to the story and it's just hard for me to picture the character I'm writing with a different name. Role with it, kay?

Sorry to be chewing you ear off, but I like to take some pride in my work. Even if it's for fun. :) R&R, thanks.


	3. Ch3: Deceptions and Regret

I'm trying to do Nanowrimo, so I think this is the last thing I'll be updating for a while. Deep Roots has one more in the works, but no more until December.  
>Hope you like this one. :) Let me know what you think so far, any opinions?<p>

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><p><em><strong>Deceptions and Regret<strong>_

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><p>"Almost...done..." Eve said as she finished penciling in a few new lines. "It'll look something like this," she said and turned a blueprint toward them.<p>

Edward took it in hand and pieced the information together. "It's steam powered automail-" he said.

"-external automail at that. How did you come up with this?" Alphonse inquired.

"Do you have a prototype?" Ed dropped another question on her.

She looked shocked, no one else had found her idea this interesting. "I came up with the idea when I saw my first piece of automail; that was about twelve years ago. Growing up, I really wanted it but never had the 'fortune' of coming into a way to quickly and painlessly remove a limb," she held an empty hand up in a shrug.

"Those kind of situations don't happen often," Al said, unintentionally sounding more 'knowing' than most would.

She chuckled and noticed the inflection, "They really don't. As for a prototype, no, I don't have one. I can show the math for it and I've tried to make one. Without the correct materials the structure falls apart. I made a smaller one, but it was too small for anyone to use." She hesitated, "...can I ask about your automail Ed?" she said through the steam of her drink.

He shook his head, "A train accident, it happened during the Ishvalan war."

"That war didn't do anyone a lick of good, did it?" she sipped her coffee, not noticing the worried look the brother's shared.

"No," Ed glanced out the darkened window, "It only made bad blood."

Eve nodded, " There _are_ small communities of surviving Ishvalan's around the capital."

"That's no way to live," Ed commented.

Al agreed, "Neither is living on a train."

"At least we're out of the elements."

"I was homeless for a time," Eve interjected, "When I got here, I didn't find a place right away."

"You?" Ed's mouth pulled back in a straight line, "You're staying somewhere now, right?"

With a short gasp, Eve hadn't expected to be asked any probing questions. Rehearsing was the only way she could do an effective deception. She resorted to the truth, "I-uh, I'm staying in an old warehouse. Don't worry, I can lock it up. I'm safe."

"Yet you were mugged and lost your purse," Al pointed out.

She paused, trying to think of a justification of her 'safety', "Hey, that happened out in public, not at home."

"Don't call it that." Referring to her 'home' comment. "Why haven't you found a better place to stay?" Ed snapped at her; he always had a strong sense of 'protection', so listening to this girl talk about how safe she was in an old building kind of bothered him.

"Okay...I haven't been able to get an income for a while. Then the purse was stolen with all my savings."

Alphonse teamed up with Ed, "You could have left your money at home."

"I couldn't leave it at home because..." they cornered her.

"..." Ed stared at her, raised eyebrow cocked.

"...Because it's not safe," she said and hung her head.

"I'll make a call, hold on," he said and began to get up.

Eve held up a hand, "Wait, you don't have to-"

"Do you want to go home tonight? A real home?" he asked. She nodded. "Then let me make a call," he walked off.

Shrinking down into her seat, Eve folded her arms as she watched Ed dial from afar. "I'm not good at receiving help like this; I'd rather earn my keep. It makes me feel guilty."

"Guilt? It shouldn't. You need help, brother offered."

The girl gave it a second thought, "...you're right. Thank you." She was the one who robbed Ed weeks ago and receiving his help now, made her feel guilty. If it were to be a true deception she would need to show no guilt when receiving this gracious offer.

"We've been helped out along the way, so this is our way of making it 'equivalent exchange'."

"Equivalent exchange? I like it." Their kindness wasn't exaggerated in any extent. '_I guess I could use this opportunity to pay him back._'

"Traveling is expensive, so it laying roots. I think there's an opening in the dorm we stay at. If I remember right, it was a single room," he said.

"Really," Eve cheered up, "That would be perfect. There was a job I wanted, but it was so far away...if I lived in the dorms I could take the buggy that goes that way. I hope this works," she folded her hands around her cup, "I will admit, it'll be nice to sleep without a breeze going by. It's no wonder I've been sick."

Edward made his way back to the table, "Do you have any stuff you need to move?"

She nodded, "Books and clothes."

"Let's go get it. I got you a room." He said with a bright smile.

Eve led them to her 'home'. She was on the third level of the building, the only one that still had lockable doors. "It's right up here," she said and led them up one final flight of steps. He room was an old office. Noticeably cleaner than the rest of the building. Mopped and dusted and organized, a sore thumb in the old building. "Home sweet home," she said, her arms held out in front of her.

"I thought I said to stop calling it that. If someone came in here and saw this, you'd be in a lot of trouble." Ed looked up through a hole in the ceiling.

Eve decided to forgo mentioning her training. She was experienced at grappling and was somewhat famous back home for it; she could hold her own in a fight. "I had a pistol," she said just to make him realize she was 'equipped'.

"In your purse?" he mocked with a chuckle.

"I accepted your help, geez," she folded her arms and cocked her head off to the side.

Alphonse picked up a large box full of books, "Brother, don't start," he said, dismissing Ed's gloat about being right.

They gathered her things and brought them to the new room. "Living space, bedroom and bathroom. That's three whole steps better than the old place."

"Add in the heat and lights and you have a very impressive pad," an older male voice sounded from the door. "I took liberties on finding out who you are exactly," Roy entered and gave the place a look around, "I'll be sure to send room service up here tomorrow. This place could use some flowers,"

"Why are you here?" Ed said, annoyed that the colonel was sticking his nose in.

"Residence told me you called. I wanted to know what was up," he approached, "And I wanted to have a chance to meet you in person. Eve Nightingale, I'm colonel Roy Mustang." He took her hand to kiss.

She made the effort to turn it into a firm handshake, "Pleasure, really. You know one another?"

Ed nodded, "He likes to hover."

"I like to stay informed," he corrected his subordinate, "You're the one asking to let her stay. If you let her in, and it's not run by _me _first, anything bad that happens falls on my head; and thus, yours."

"I wish something would fall on you-are you done here?" Ed tried to kick him out.

Roy turned his attention to Ed, "Trying to make me leave? Want some alone time?"

Ed blushed, "Out!" he yelled and slammed the door.

"I'll keep in touch," he said from outside the room.

"He was only introducing himself," she laughed.

With a flick of his collar, Ed straightened his coat, "He's trying to get a number from you, please don't buy it."

She laughed again, "I doubt that'll work. How many years between us, ten? Eleven?"

"I did notice the deflection back there," Al said, referring to the forced handshake from earlier.

"I'm worried about getting accepted for the exam. I'm not in climbing the ladder with a miniskirt on." Eve unlocked a trunk with some of her things in it, the top popped up quickly, it was stuffed with many things.

"About that," Al began, "If he asks you about passing his proposal on dress code, tell him when you're done looking at it you'll give it back to his assistant."

After saying her goodbye's to the brothers, Eve sat down to a quiet evening by herself. She grabbed a flask from her bag and curled up with a good book, Edward's journal (the copy). "Guilty? Maybe," she said and flipped to where she had left off. Eve was translating notes as she went along, her nearly blank notebook laid on top of the pile. She took a sip and began the journey once again into Ed's past. She didn't mean to be snooping, but the notes of his travels were mixed within the alchemy notes. He led such an exciting life and it showed, he was very well rounded and mature.

Time passed slowly. She laid her pen down for the evening. "You are one sturdy little alchemist Ed." She exhaled and raised her eyebrows; the news paper articles she read on the Full Metal Alchemist didn't do him justice. He was far more accomplished behind the scene's. "And a liar," she said and began the run a bath for herself. The part about his arm and leg came up, and it was no train that took them either. His little brother Alphonse was another story, he had lost his whole body. '_It explains the voice not matching the body. It's because the body doesn't match the soul._' She was thoughtful, realizing now how rude it was of her to ask about his automail. Eve assumed others ask about his arm, the train alibi must have been his 'rehearsed lie'.

Being only half finished with the notes, she pondered who these 'homunculus' people were. Eve couldn't figure out what they were symbolizing. She knew that a homunculus was a fake human, but she had no clue as to what he meant by it. Assuming he was referring to a rival, a fake, she noted the need to look for a name to this person, or people. He called one of them 'envious' and another 'greedy', but no names bubbled to the surface. "Tomorrow's going to be great," she shut the curtains on the only opened window. "At least I don't have to put up a tarp." It had begun to rain, hard.

The next day was as predicted, "I'm awesome," Eve pat herself on the back. Not only had her luck taken leaps and bounds since arriving in Central, now she had a job near home. Close enough to Ed and his superiors to keep an eye on him. Human transmutation wasn't something she was originally going for, but if it would enhance her automail idea any she would take it. Another problem she faced with her design was the comfort. If it was too light, it cut into the skin. Adding padding made it bulky and so would encasing the arm fully. Not to mention the price hike, that much metal would be expensive and way too heavy. The point of her idea was to be light without compromising the body too much.

The job in question was one in a small laboratory. It was filing and appointment making, but it was at a firm she wanted to apply for after getting her state alchemy license. They specialized in steam engineering, throwing alchemy into the mix would surely turn a lot of heads. The trick was not getting caught. While she had the notes, that was only half the battle. She couldn't just show up one day with all the answers, she needed to show her work. The only way to show work was to look like you were studying, the only way to do that was to actually study. She laid her head down in the crook of a big ol' book. "This is painful."

"What is?" Edward spoke from behind her.

Lifting her head to meet his gaze, she shrugged, "I hit a rhythm last night. This title came up in a book I took out last time I was here." She held it up. It was one she hand picked because it was about the subject in question.

"That's a dangerous path." He said and tugged the book closer to him. "Be careful, this can get you in a lot of trouble."

He was right, without the proper certification she wasn't allowed to preform any alchemy on the human body, or any other for that matter. "I know. It's only for the plans. Take a look at this," she said and tugged a paper from the top of her notebook. "Check this idea out," she handed him the picture.

He took a look over it, "How do you hope to accomplish this?" The drawing was of external automail that was still mounted on the bone.

"That's where the problem is, I have no clue. Being the prodigy you are, any suggestions?" she said, hoping to pry some information out of him.

"I've got nothing, sorry," he said as he handed the book back to her. She knew he was lying. It was only a matter of time before she decoded the secrets behind Edward's notes. "I wanted to tell you before I left, because I'm sure Central's not going to get back to you for a few days. I got you a position for the exam."

"Really?" she exclaimed. The librarian shushed her. "Sorry, sorry. Really?"

"Yes. You still have to bring your research but he said he'll make an exception for me," he said and hooked a thumb over his shoulder, "We're heading out today and I was curious if you got settled."

Eve nodded, he blond hair bounced around, "I have. Thank you Ed, you've really helped me out."

"Take it easy," he waved and shoved his hands in his coat. Ed left the library.

She sat down with a heavy heart, the guilt was back.

* * *

><p>As I said before, it's going to be a bit of a wait. I hope this and the one to come on D.R. within the next couple days.<p>

Not getting much of a response for this one, is it working out? Hope so. :)


	4. Brief Hiatus

Dear Everyone,

You may have noticed that I haven't been updating much lately. I've actually been quite sick. Though it is rather embarrassing, because it's my bowel being affected, I felt I should caution and inform anyone who cares to read on. If you are having digestive troubles, please tell your doctor, don't be ashamed or afraid to speak up. I let it go too long and now I'm booked for surgery on this coming Monday. I'm only twenty-five, this wasn't something I thought I would have to deal with, but here it is. I love writing and I miss it, I can't wait to come back. I wanted to post this as a heads up; I do plan on continuing my works, but they have been put on hold until I know what's wrong.

Thank you for listening, I look forward to returning.

-_Eve Nightingale_


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